Florham Park Man Graduates from Centenary College

Anthony Ciaston from Florham Park graduated from Centenary College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at its 138th May Commencement at the John M. Reeves Student Recreation Center recently. The keynote speaker, Lou Reda, television producer, addressed Centenary's graduating class of 415 students.

Lou Reda Productions is a full-scale television production company with offices located in Easton, Pa., and New York City.

Reda, the company's founder, first made a national name for himself in 1982 when he was the executive producer for the CBS miniseries The Blue and the Gray (starring Gregory Peck as Abraham Lincoln). This began his love for historical programming, and prompted him to move into the nonfiction market. Over the next 30 years the company produced more than 500 hours of programming for United States and international television networks, including A&E, History, BIO, Discovery, Military Channel, CBS, HDNet and Viacom, while garnering immense praise in the form of a People's Choice Award, eight Emmy nominations, five Cine Golden Eagles and nine Tellys. Among the company's recent productions are the event television series WWII in HD (narrated by Gary Sinise) and Vietnam in HD (narrated by Michael C. Hall), produced for History.

In the 1960s and '70s, Reda managed singers such as Chubby Checker and Johnny Desmond, as well as entertainers like the Amazing Kreskin. In 1971, he created The Amazing World of Kreskin, the first syndicated television series ever for Viacom.

Today, Lou Reda Productions continues to develop and produce entertaining unscripted series and outstanding factual programs. It believes innovative storytelling, engaging characters and high production value regardless of budget are key to the success of any project.

In addition to Reda, Ruth E. Grauert and Norman Worth received Honorary Doctorate degrees in Humane Letters.

"I am pleased that we recognized our three honorary degree recipients in this manner," says Dr. Barbara-Jayne Lewthwaite, Centenary College President. "Commencement is a day of celebration in recognition of the hard work and dedication of the graduates. I wish them the best as they continue their professional or academic journey."